Rate Lean: Fast

The Rapid Plant Assessment process was first described in a 2002 May/June issue of the Harvard Business Review in an article titled “READ A PLANT: FAST” by R. Eugene Goodson. Over 1,000 plant tours and ratings have been conducted over almost two decades with the RPA process. As a result of this data and experience, a workbook has been developed and published entitled: Rate Lean: Fast by R. Eugene Goodson.

This workbook is provided courtesy of the Tauber Institute for Global Operations and is available to purchase through this website and through Amazon.

The workbook describes in much more detail how to plan a tour, how to rate an operation, and how to develop the ability to envision an ideal lean plant based on the concepts of the Toyota Production System. The workbook also serves as a training primer on lean transformation.

The workbook has over 40 lean photographs, many illustrations, and covers over 200 attributes important for lean transformations. Several personal experiences of the author in developing the RPA process are also recounted. Organizations should be able to use this workbook to incorporate this powerful tool in their lean journey. Quantity discounts are available for orders of 25 copies or more. The RPA ratings tables and a lean glossary can be downloaded free from this site to supplement the workbook.